Martin Bashir Biography
Martin Bashir is a journalist from the United Kingdom. He worked as a television presenter in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as for the BBC’s Panorama program, for which he obtained an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales under false pretenses in 1995.
How old is Martin Bashir? – Age
He is 60 years old as of 19 January 2023. He was born in 1963 in Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom. His real name is Martin Henry Bashir.
Martin Bashir Family – Education
Bashir was born and reared in Wandsworth, London, to liberal Pakistani Muslim parents. In his adolescence, he became a Christian. During WWII, his father served in the Royal Navy. Bashir attended Wandsworth School for Boys, King Alfred’s College of Higher Education in Winchester, where he studied English and History from 1982 to 1985, and King’s College London, where he earned a master’s degree in theology.
Martin Bashir Wife – Children
He is married to Deborah Bashir. His wife, Deborah, and he have three children.
Martin Bashir Religion
He switched from Islam to Christianity in his late teens after attending a church in south London, and he considers himself a dedicated Christian, having been interested in Christianity since he was a child. He occasionally visits Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.
Martin Bashir Surgery
He was diagnosed with a pituitary gland brain tumor, was said to be “seriously unwell” with the coronavirus in October 2020, and reportedly underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in late 2020 and other surgical treatments in spring 2021.
Martin Bashir Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $7 million.
Martin Bashir Princess Diana Interview
Bashir conducted an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, in November 1995 for the BBC’s Panorama program, which was seen by 23 million people in the United Kingdom. Five months later, two reporters for the Mail On Sunday reported that Bashir had manipulated the princess’s family by using forged documents. Bashir was cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation was announced by the BBC. A documentary about the case that looked at Bashir’s manipulations and the BBC’s response was shown on ITV 25 years later. Wiessler claimed that after the 1996 inquiry found Bashir innocent, he lost his job.
The controversy was rekindled by the documentary, and BBC director general Tim Davie offered an apology to Earl Spencer, who requested an investigation. Davie reported a free investigation into how the meeting was acquired, to be going by previous Adjudicator for the highest court John Dyson. The BBC discovered a note from the Princess of Wales on November 13, 2020, which cleared Bashir of putting her under pressure to give the interview. On 18 November 2020, the BBC reported an autonomous examination concerning how the meeting was acquired. The Metropolitan Police made the announcement on March 4, 2021, that they would not open a criminal investigation into the claims that the Prince of Wales was having an affair with Tiggy Legge-Bourke, the Queen’s cardiac condition, and Prince Edward’s treatment for AIDS.
Bashir was found guilty by Dyson’s investigation in May 2021 of violating BBC editorial policy and employing “deceitful methods” to obtain the interview. In the High Court in July 2022, the BBC expressed its regret to the former nanny and agreed to compensate her for unspecified damages.
Martin Bashir Documentary
Bashir did a series of interviews with American musician Michael Jackson in 2003 for the documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which was part of ITV’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald series. However, Bashir’s colleagues believe that he only got the interview after offering Jackson a trip to Africa to visit children with AIDS, accompanied by Kofi Annan. Jackson filed a complaint with the Independent Television Commission and the Broadcasting Standards Commission following the program, accusing Bashir of yellow journalism. Jackson and his personal cameraman released a rebuttal interview in which Bashir praised Jackson for the Neverland Ranch’s “spiritual” quality.
Bashir presented the documentary Major Fraud in 2003, which told the story of British Army major Charles Ingram, who tried to swindle his way to the prize money on an unaired episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The initial Ingram show, taped in September 2001, was pulled from the air when the production team felt suspicious. The documentary was watched by more people than Bashir’s interview with Michael Jackson.
Martin Bashir ABC
Bashir relocated to New York in 2004, where he co-anchored ABC’s current affairs show Nightline with Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran; he took over Nightline from Ted Koppel in 2005.
Bashir was suspended from ABC News in 2008 while working as a reporter for Nightline for making “crude and sexist” statements in a speech at the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Chicago. He went on to say that a speech should be “like a dress on a beautiful woman – long enough to cover the important parts and short enough to keep your attention – like my colleague Juju’s,” alluding to his ABC News colleague Juju Chang, a 20/20 correspondent. ABC News fired him.
Martin Bashir NBC
Bashir left ABC in August 2010 to join MSNBC, where he was a political pundit and occasional substitute presenter for Lawrence O’Donnell, presented his own show, Martin Bashir, and was a correspondent for NBC’s Dateline NBC. Bashir was chastised in January 2013 for misleading viewers by showing an edited tape of Neil Heslin, whose son was slain in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, testifying in court. Heslin challenged the crowd to suggest a rationale why carrying an assault weapon was required; after a little hush, a member of the audience responded with a quote from the Second Amendment.
Bashir’s edited companion film omitted Heslin’s challenge request as well as the interval of silence, allowing Bashir to describe the clip as “a father’s grief interrupted by the cries of a heckler.” Heslin’s statements about accepting other points of view were also cut from the edited clip. Later, MSNBC published an unedited video of the hearing, enabling viewers to assess if the response to Heslin’s challenge constituted “heckling” or not.